#lynd

"And your mom? If you don't..."

"Nah, it's fine. It's been five years. I'd like to say a Mire got her, and I've been, y'know, training for years to take revenge. But nope, just regular old shitty cancer. If she was still here, I'd...I'd tell her everything. She'd get it. Even if you hate your mom, at least she's..."

Tabby raised an eyebrow. "At least she's what?"

"Just, that's crazy, right? The dude who bashed her up in the '70s is the same guy we're fighting now? What if she was a Warden too, and that's why she got hit?"

"Trust me, no goddamn way," Tabby said. "I wish she was like your dad. Every time I talk to her, she's practically begging me to quit, you're too weak, you can't handle it, you know I'm right...she doesn't control my life anymore and she's so mad about it."

"Alright, shit," Kenny said. "Grass is always greener, I guess." He whistled. "Damn, a mobbed-up Fullmire. Wonder if Ryan knows anything."

"Ryan? From school?"

"Yeah, his dad's firm did plea deals for a bunch of old mob guys who 'retired' down here. I'm pretty sure one of them is Ryan's steroid hookup. Keith buys from him; I wasn't kidding about the roid rage. One time Keith couldn't pay and Ryan came over here and was freaking out. Like someone was gonna come after him."

Tabby sat up straight, stammering as a mental lightbulb clicked on. "D-dude, go get Jevon. I just figured something out."

Jevon was summoned from upstairs. Justin was not, but kept his face pressed to the back window anyway, in hopes of hearing something. "'Kay, so last Friday, Mel went out with Jordy, and they went to Scooter's. It was Ryan's idea, and he went with. Didn't even do any rides or anything. And that's where they found that photo." She paused, letting it sink in. "The storage place was a setup. Scooter's is their real base. Think about it. All those tents and trailers to hide stuff in, employees come and go all the time..."

Jevon nodded. "Think you're onto something," he said. "Alright. We'll sit on this until Mr. C and the rest get back from Equinox, then launch an assault."

"That's a week from now," Tabby said. "C'mon, the four of us, we can take him."

"Yeah, that's insane," Kenny said.

"You think so?" Jevon said. "Show me what you got."

Tabby unhooked her feather. Energy crackled around her as it grew. She tried to stay positive, and feed those emotions into the feather. But it was hard. It had been hard ever since the storage place. There was some kind of mental block. She couldn't imagine what. She had every reason to want to get better, to want to catch this bastard. But today the feather didn't believe her. With a cracking sound, it stopped growing and returned to normal.

"You see? You're not ready for combat. And that's fine," Jevon said to her embarrassed sulking. "No one's expecting you to be. But if you try this on your own, I will tell the higher-ups. And if you think you're in the doghouse now?"

"You're gonna tell? What is this, kindergarten? Anyway, I won't be alone: we've got a Markstepper too." She patted Lynd's leg and smiled.

He didn't return it. "They're right. This is a bad idea. The Sumacs are a powerful clan, and we still don't know their true intentions."

"Jesus, you too? How come I've got more balls than all three of you put together? How many people are gonna die while we sit on our asses, huh?"

"That's not why you wanna do this," Kenny said. "You wanna show off. You wanna be the star. I get it. I was like that when I joined."

"But then," said Jevon, with infuriating calm, "We learn that we check the Wards, we keep the peace, and we don't go charging into Markstepper turf--mob-backed Markstepper turf--just because we wanna be heroes. Now, you didn't get that training, 'cause you're special," he sneered. "So learn it now."

You're not some hero, you little shit! Rita's words came back to her. She kept her stare intense and her jaw tight.

"Wait, it's not even about that. This is about your mom," Kenny said. "You wanna get revenge?"

"Fuck revenge, she doesn't deserve revenge! Maybe I'll just tell him to finish what he started! I can get him to fuck up your brother, too, because you're apparently too much of a pussy to do it yourself."

Kenny grumbled and bent down. “Guess I’ll show you later,”

“Show them what?” Mr. Boyd continued. “You stay away from my tools, got it? Why are you still here? I thought you were leaving for your trip thing.”

“Canceled. Last-minute thing.”

“Aw, lil’ Kenny won’t get to hang out with his butt-buddies,” Keith said. He was in uniform, swinging his bat around. He glared at Lynd. “I know you,” he said. “You’re that new kid in Coach Bob’s class. You think you’re gonna replace Will, huh?”

“Oh, they found a replacement?” Mr. Boyd said, his mood brightening. “Yeah, pity what happened to Valdez, but you’ve got the right profile for middle infield. You had much DP practice with Keith yet? Or is Coach Bob gonna move you to shortstop and put Delacruz at second? I tell ya, this is the worst Knights team in a couple years, so whatever he does, it better work.”

It’s high school baseball. My god, you people are INSANE. Tabby wanted to say. Mr. Boyd gave her an approving look as well. Maybe a little too approving. The other boy finally brought a girl home, it seemed to say. He may be a loser, but at least he’s not gay. Tabby moved closer to Lynd and nudged him discreetly. “Uh, I’m not on the team yet,” Lynd said. “Maybe soon. I’ve got some…other things going on.”

Mr. Boyd looked doubtful it was anything that important, but the phone rang from inside and he left to answer it. Keith sneered. “Yeah, we don’t need you on our team. This was supposed to be our year, bro. Me and Will. We’ve been playing together since little league, and we’re not gonna be the ones to lose the title streak. So you can fuck off.”

“I’m not here to ‘replace’ anyone,” Lynd said cautiously. “Moving to Kahoti has been good to me, and I want to give something back.” Tabby rolled her eyes. “You know there’s more than two guys to a team, right?”

“Your girlfriend’s got a mouth on her. You might wanna fix that.”

“Insult me if you want,” he said softly, his natural accent creeping back in. “But not her.”

“Yeah? Gonna do something about it?” Keith smiled. He wanted a fight.

Mr. Boyd flung the door open. “Kenny, phone! It’s Dean Hansen from school. Christ, it's always one fuck-up or another with you.”

Tabby flinched at that. It reminded her of too many nights in Chicago. But if Mr. Hansen was calling this number, something was up.

“Hey, Kenny, glad you’re home,” the dean said. “Listen, I’ve got a meeting with the county school board, completely slipped my mind. Could you watch the kids for a bit?”

“Absolutely. Be right over. Hey, can I bring Tabby and Lynd too?”

“More the merrier. Oh, one more thing. My wife tells me you called Fawn a bitch in front of the whole crew. Is that right?”

Kenny blushed and gulped. “Indirectly, sir. But yes.”

“Well, do it again and you’re indirectly banned from next year’s Equinox too.” Kenny agreed and hung up.

“C’mon, really?” Tabby pouted. “Do I look like a baby-sitter to you?”

Happy Birthday Born! 🎉